Razor-stropping device



Feb. 3. 1925.

W.` ALTHOFF RAZOR STROPPING DEVI CE Filed Nov, 4, 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet l /H/e/vfor Feb. 3. 1925. l 1,524,304

w. ALTHoFF RAZOR STROPPING DEVICE Filed Nov. 4, 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Feb. 3, i925.

WALTER ALTHorF, orv Giani-iva, 'lvnw'vnn anzon-srnorrine nevica.

Application filed November T 0 'all whom it may' concern Be it known that I, lVALTni-z ALTHOFF, of Geneva, in the county of Untar'io, in `the State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in a RaZor-Stropping Device, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to a razor stropping device involving the use of a hollow handle or case containing an oscillatory blade-holder and a strop having portions thereof movable' in'o'p'posite directions at opposite 'sides of the holder and adapted to be operated by hand against `the action of a retracting spring ,together with' means for transmitting motion from'the strop to the blade-holder.

The mainobj ect is to enable .the case to be held in one hand, while the strop is being operated by the other hand into and out of contactwith opposite sides of the razor for sharpening purposes without liability of cuttings'aid strop.

Another 'object is to providemeans controlled by the strop for restoring the bladeholder to a` neutral vposition in registration with an opening in one end of the case to facilitate the entrance and removal of the blade into and from the holder.

A further object lis to provide a resilient back-'rest for'the blade to steady it in the 'holder during the stropp'ing operation.

A still further object is to provide means for limiting the are of oscillation of the blade-holder independently of the Aendwise movement of the strop or rather to permita 'greateror less amount of endwise movement .ofthe strop without' oscillating the bladeholder 'beyond certain limits.

Otherobiects and uses relating to specific parts ofthe device will be brought out in the following description:

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective viewr of a razor stropping devicel embodying the various features of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view ofthe same device taken on line 2 2, Fig. l. i

lFigs. vand 4 are transverse sectional views taken, respectively, in the planes of li-nes 3-3'and4f-4, Fig. 72. y

frFigs. '5 and are detail sectional Views taken, respectively, in the planes of line 'The razor stropping Vdevice, illustrated,

1921. Serial N0. 512,812.

Vcomprises a case -1- having yro'unded-loottom and top walls -2- and '3- and 'sublstantially flat and parallel end walls 1ithe lowerportion of one side and adjacent port-ion of the bottom bei-ng provided with a lengthwise slot or opening -5- for receiving and permitting the movement of a strop -6-,' one of the end walls i4-,being provided intermediate its lower and "upper edges withV a'n opening JI-'- through which the lrazor blade as 4a,- may` be inserted'and withdrawn'intov and out of a suitable holder For convenience of assembling the variousv parts of the device within the casel-'l-, the latter is divided at 9- along its longitudinal center and the opposite halves are clamped together by lugs Vl0-'and screws -11-, Fig. 2, the lugs *l0- being attached to the lower and upper section of onelralf section 'by'V spot welding or otherwise, and are projected across the adjacent edges of the other half section to receive the screws -11, thereby *producing a rigid caseV which may ybe made of comparatively lightsheet metaltoforinal handle by which the device may be supported in one hand, while the other hand is employed inthe operation ofthe str'op -6-. f

A stationary. shaft or `spindle -12- eX- tendslengthwiiseA of and within the lower portion of the ca'se 'land has, its opposite ends scoured in suitable openings 13M in the end walls thereof, said ends being preferably angular in cross-section `to 'lit in corresponding openings in the ends of the case to hold the shaft'against rotation and substantially co-aXial with the adjacent lower wall of the case.

A'hollow drum '14- havingend heads -15- is rotatablyl mounted upon the shaft 12- within the case 1- concentric with said shaft and is provided with an interior chamber-'15@- for're'ceiving a coil-spring 1G-having one end secured at -17- to the shaft '-12 and its other endsecured at -18- to the interior of the drum for rotating said drum in a direction opposite to that imparted to it by the'lengthwise movement of the vstrop -6-.

That is, one rend of the strop '.-6- is wrapped one or more turns around and vupon the periphery ofthe drum' and is secured thereto, while the-other -eind is Passed'over an idler drumA--19.*and returned downwardly through the opening Where.' itf-fisfprol ein?,

vided with a wire loop handle 20 for drawing the strop endwise through the opening against the action of the retracting spring l6 said drum l9 being rotatably mounted within and upon the upper portion of the casing 1 parallel with the drum liand concentric with the rounded upper portion of said casing.

These drums M and l9 are of approximately the same diameter and somewhat longer than the width of the strop 6 so as to project beyond the opposite edges of the strop, the end heads 15 of the drum M being provided with flanges 2l for guiding the strop against lateral displacement as it is drawn endwise in one direction by hand and returned in the opposite direction by the spring l6 said drums being of substantially equal diameter to cause the opposite sides of the strop between the drums to travel in reverse directions in spaced relation without friction one with the other. A pair of guide-rollers 522- are journaled within the case between and parallel with the drums leband 19 and at equal distances from and at opposite sides of a plane passing through the axes of said rollers slightly less than the radii of thev portion of the rollers engaged by the strop so as to deilect the opposite sides of the strop between the rollers inwardly to assure the proper angle of contact of the blade in the holder 8 with the inner faces of the strop for sharpening purposes and also to hold the adjacent portions of the strop against outward displacement by the contact of the bladetherewith, thereby assuring a uniform sharpening angle.

`The blade-holder S is secured to a rock-shaft 23 to oscillate about an axis parallel with and between and in a plane extending through the axes of the drums H and 19- and also between said drums7 and comprising a pair of opposed spring aws Q4- extending from the roel:- shaft 23 toward the drum l9 and having their free ends 25 tensioned toward each other to frictionally hold the blade ct between them7 said rock-shaft 23 and blade-holder 8- being located between the drum M and guide-rollers 22 in such relation as to cause the cutting Vedge of the blade to engage the inner faces of opposite sides of the strop just above but close to the guide-rollers 22-.

A lHat bow spring 26- has its opposite ends slidably interlocled with the corre` spondin g ends of the blade-holder 8 and its intermediate portion interposed between the jaws 24 and arched toward the free edges 25 thereof to form a yielding back-rest for the back of the blade when inserted between the jawsr and thereby to assist in friction-ally holding the blade in the holder during the stropping operation, the opposite jaws being flared from their free extremities toward the shaft 23 to form an intervening space for the reception of the body of the blade a' and to enable the free edges of the jaws to more firmly engage the thinner portion of the blade a short distance back from the cutting edge thereof where it is held by the spring against undue inward displacement.

The rock-shaft 23 is journaled at its ends in suitable bearings in the end walls of the case 1 and is provided at one end with a pinion segment 27 and at its opposite ends with a disk 28 the pinion segment 27 being engaged with a gear segment 29 which is loose on the adjacentend of the stationary shaft l2 A friction disk or washer 80- is interposed between the gear 29 and adjacent end head l5 of the drum 14E said gear segment being spring pressed against the washer by a coil spring 31 interposed between the outer face of the gear and adjacent end wall of the case for es tablishing a friction drive between the drum and gear segment, whereby motion may be transmitted to the rock-shaft 23 and blade-holder carried thereby as the drum M is rocked in a reverse direction by the reverse endwise movement of the strop 6 These toothed segments 27 and 29- are constructed to impart an oscillatory motion to the blade-holder through a limited arc of a circle approximately equal to or slightly greater than the distance between the opposite sides of the strop or just sufficient to alternately bring the opposite edges of the blade into engagement with the corresponding sides of said strop at which time, it is desired to restrain the continued movement of the blade support and this restraint is permitted by the slipping of the drum M relatively to the gear segment 29- as the strop continues its endwise movement in either direction after the blade has been brought into engagement with either side of the strop.

lt is desirable to provide means whereby the blade-holder 8 will automatically as sume a neutral position midway between the opposite sides of the strop in registration with the central partv of the opening 7- in one end of the ease 1 as shown in Figs. l and 4 and for this purpose, the end of the strop which extends through the opening 5 is provided with a metal clasp 31 which not only forms a convenient means of attachment for the handle 20 but is also provided at one end with an extension abutment 32 at the same end of the case as the disk 28- for enllO #Sasso/i gi' Ygagng an offset end -33- of a sliding plate which is held inoperative `position by a guide-member 555- and a screw 36 and has its opposite 'or upper blade-holder -8- to its neutral position.l

For example, assuming that the parts are in their neutral or normal positions as shown in the drawings, and that it is desired to sharpen the blade of an ordinary folding razor, the latter will then be inserted endwise through the opening 6- and between the jaws-Q- of the bladeholder -8-;du'ring which operation', the bow-spring, will tend to force the blade outwardly between thejaws a suflicient distance to project its cutting edge beyondthe free edges of said rjaws where it will be held by the spring tension of vthe jaws, it`

being understood that the blade will be wholly within the case clear from the end walls thereof.

Then by taking the case in one hand and pulling the strop outwardly by the other hand, the corresponding side of the strop will be moved in the direction indicated by arrow X-, Figs. 3 and 4, while the opposite side of the strop between the drums will be moved in the direction indicated by arrow -Y-, thereby rotating the drum --l4- in the direction indicated by arrow -M-, which through the medium of the friction disk -30- will cause the rotation of the gear segment -29- in the same direction while the pinion segment 2T- will be rotated in the reverse direction indicated by arrow -N-' in Fig. 3 to rock the blade-holder in the direction indicated by arrow -O into engagement with the side of the strop opposite that to which the handle is attached or in the direction in which the edge of the blade faces to sharpen that particular side of the blade.

During this operation, the shoulder -32- on the outer end of the strop will, of course, be withdrawn from the adjacent end of the sliding plate -34-, while the pin -38- will be rocked away from the opposite end of the plate, thus leaving the sliding plate entirely free,`but it is evident, however, that after the blade has engaged the strop thereby resisting further rocking movement of the blade-holder, the operator may continue to draw the strop outwardly endwise by reason of the slipping connection between the gear lsegment 29- and adjacent end of the drum 14.- which friction is just sufficient to oscillate the blade-holder and to apply some pressure of the blade againstthe side of the strop engaged thereby to' increase the sharpening efliciency of the device.

On the other hand, as soon as the outward pull upon the handle 20- has been relieved, the drum -ilyis immediately rotated in a reverse direction by means vof the spring 16 to rewind the strop thereon during which operation, the direction of movement of the blade-holder -8'- will have been ieversedto bring the cutting edge ofthe blade into engagement with the side of the strop to which the handle is attached, which side vis then moving in the .direction in which the edge of the blade faces, thereby returning the pin 58+ beyond its neutral position through an arc corresponding to its rmovementV from the neutral position in the. firstnamed. direction and unless the plate Bt-` has been returned by its own weight, it will be; positively` returned by the engagement ofthe pini -38-- with the adjacent end thereof and before the engagement of the abutment -BQY-Vwith the offset.

is soon as, however, the shoulder y--32- begins to engage the offset -33-, it will begin to return the plate -34- against the pin w38- and thereby return the bladeholder -8- to its normal or neutral position substantially midway between the opposite sides of the strop, thus completing the cycle of operation.

What I claim is: v

, l. In a razor stropping device, a Stropsupport, a strop passed around the support and having opposed portions thereof eX- tending in the same general direction therefrom and operable in one direction by hand, mechanical means for movingV the strop in the opposite direction, an oscillatory bladeholder between the opposed portions of the strop, and means actuated by said mechanical means for oscillating Vthe blade-holder first in one direction and then in the opposite direction.

2. In a razor stropping device,l a stropsupport, a strop passed around the support and having opposed portions thereof extending in the same general direction therefrom and operable in one direction by hand, mechanical means for moving the strop in the opposite direction, an oscillatory bladeholder between the opposed portions of the strop, means actuated by said mechanical means for oscillating the blade-holder first in one direction and then in an opposite direction, and means actuated by the strop when moved in one direction for restoring the blade-holder to a neutral position substantially midway between the active sides of the strop. n

3. In a razor stropping device, the combination of a case having an opening for receiving the razor blade and also provided with an additional opening for the passage of a strop therethrough, drums mounted within the case in parallel spaced relation, a strop attached to the periphery of one of the drums and extending over the other drum and returned through the opening in the case provided therefor, an oscillatory blade-holder vmounted within the case between opposed portions of the strop and normally registering with the opening for receiving the razor blade, means for rotating one of the drums in one direction for winding the strop thereon7 said strop being movable by hand in the opposite direction against the action of the drum rotating means, and means actuated by the rotation of the drum in both directions for oscillating the blade-holder in reverse directions to alternately bring the blade against Opposed portions of the strop.

4. In aV razor-stropping device, the combination of a case having av blade-receiving opening and a stropreceiving-opening, drums rotatably mounted within the case in parallel spaced relation, a spring within one of the drums for rotating the same in one direction, a strop attached to the periphery of the spring actuated drum and returned over the other drum through the opening therefor, an oscillatory blade-holder mo-unt ed within the case between the drums and between opposed portions of the strop to bring the blade alternately into engagement with the opposed portions of the strop as the bladeholder is oscillated in reverse directions, said strop being moved endwise by'hand in one direction to unwind it from the spring actuated drum against the action of said spring, means actuated by the rotation of the' spring-actuated-drum in both directions for operating the bladeholder, and means actuated by the strop when returned to its normal position tor restoring a blade-holder to a neutral position substantially midway between the opposed portions of the strop.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 29 day of Oct. 1921.

WALTER ALTHOFF. Witnesses:

HERBERT L. PLACE, CLARENCE V. BLACK. 

